Summary

Description

Beroe cucumis is a medium-sized, sack-shaped comb jelly. It may reach up to 15 cm in length. It is completely transparent in colour. It swims with eight longitudinal combs that give the comb jellies (ctenophores) their characteristic shimmering appearance. These combs consist of plates of transverse rows of hairs that beat in waves downwards, which produces the shimmering effect. These plates are phosphorescent at night.

Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland

Recorded off the west and northern coasts of Scotland and the coasts of Wales. Possibly under recorded.

Global distribution

-

Habitat

The comb jelly Beroe cucumis is a pelagic species.

Depth range

-

Identifying features

Transparent sack-shaped body up to 15 cm in length.

Radially symmetrical with secondary bilateral symmetry.

Eight longitudinal rows of combs of equal length.

No tentacles.

Branched gastrovascular system unlike Beroe gracilis.

Additional information

Beroe cucumis is carnivorous and feeds on other comb jellies, particularly Bolinopsis infundibulum. Instead of sticky tentacles or large oral lobes, the large mouth is used to engulf prey whole (Greve, 1975).

The information (TEXT ONLY) provided by the Marine Life Information Network (MarLIN) is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their
own terms and conditions and they may or may not be available for reuse. Permissions beyond the scope of this license are available here. Based on a work at www.marlin.ac.uk